Earlier this year, the government made an announcement that bursaries would only be provided for students to continue their studies locally. Many students who aimed to live their dream of travelling overseas for the sake of their higher education came crashing down to reality with the lack of their own personal financial capabilities. What was supposed to be the chance of a lifetime to study in a globally ranked top university is now diminished.
Nine JPA bursary students decided to turn their efforts another way. All of them come from different backgrounds with remarkable achievements which can be seen in a section of their website page. They mentioned how their hopes were crushed to see their offer letters for widely known universities such as UCLA, UC Berkeley and University of Michigan be cast aside simply due to lack of funds.
Still determined to see themselves achieve their goals in studying abroad at these renowned universities, these local students have launched a crowdfunding campaign in hopes of raising RM750,000 for all their tuition fees respectively, albeit for the first year only. As of writing, they have raised RM19,480 from their goal thus far.
However, many netizens were left unimpressed.
They have taken to social media to leave a few comments expressing their disapproval at how easily these young students are asking for education funding, particularly such an exorbitant amount. Most comments mentioned the difficulties they struggled through during their early years to even fund the first few years of their tertiary education.
Others began to question why these students disregarded the idea of even staying in their own country to further pursue their education at local institutions.
There were also some comments advising them to seek help from other sources in terms of scholarships if they were so academically achieved.
Though the overall reaction seemed grim and not supportive of their cause, there were a few who understood and stepped up with their support.
Resourceful Versus Self-sustaining
The general concern brought up from this issue is how the young generation seem to be continuously demanding when it comes to their future and not understanding the idea of putting in hard work to achieve their own goals. This relates to the issue of how young graduates seem to not be getting jobs immediately due to the high standards set by the current state of the economy.
It’s difficult to say if these students should work on other sources to get their funds, continue with their crowdfunding or just give up their dreams for practical reasons. Although they are taking the initiative to try to fund themselves without relying on their parents or family, the reactions of the netizens seem to indicate that they should be trying other ways. These students are using an online platform that is readily available for them to raise funds for their goals. Is that to be recognised as an effort to be resourceful and therefore applauded or should they be reprimanded even though they are taking the initiative to better their circumstances?
What is your opinion on this matter? Do you agree with the rest of Malaysia who want them to work hard to earn their education or would you be willing to help these students and donate?
Feature Image Credit: metro.cua.edu